You’ve got to give Polish developer Tate Interactive credit. The studio’s recently released Urban Trial Freestyle may not boast the polished chassis of its physics-focused motorcycle compatriot Trials Evolution, but it’s parked itself slap-bang in the centre of a commercial black hole that’s been growing in significance on PlayStation since 2009. And the sales numbers reflect as much.

That’s despite the title commanding a slew of average review scores and a borderline offensive price point. In simple terms, the data shows that the PlayStation community is calling out for a port of RedLynx’s more refined Trials Evolution – and we reckon that it’s about time that Ubisoft responded to the demand.

Ubisoft has expressed a desire to spread the series’ commercial reach in the past. As part of a financial meeting last summer, a company spokesperson teased that there’s “great multiplatform potential for RedLynx’s brands”. The critically acclaimed Helsinki-based outfit is currently working on a PC port of its most-recent two-wheeled adventure, but what of the PS3 and Vita?

Ignore the explosions

Well, it’s likely that Microsoft’s exclusivity clause forbids the title from releasing on a competing console for at least 12 months. Heavily promoted games such as Limbo and Braid, for example, launched on the PlayStation Network almost exactly a year after their Xbox Live Arcade debuts. It’s not unreasonable to picture Trials Evolution following a similar path.

We just hope that the success of Urban Trial Freestyle serves as a reminder of the revenue that Ubisoft’s missing out on. Tate Interactive’s copycat may not come anywhere close to desaddling the market leader, but it’s still a wily release, and it deserves its place atop the PSN sales charts for that reason alone.